Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for controlling a stop of a vehicle, more particularly, to a technology for allowing a vehicle in case of emergency (drowsy driving, sudden medical emergency, loss of consciousness, or the like) while driving on a road to stop in a position that can be visually recognized by a driver of a rear vehicle.
A “rear vehicle” according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention refers to a vehicle travelling behind the subject vehicle on the same lane, but may also refer to all vehicles approaching from behind, irrespective of lanes.
Description of Related Art
A driver of a vehicle must concentrate on safety driving and keep the eyes forward while driving. However, drowsy driving due to mental and physical fatigue or sudden medical emergency such as heart attack or loss of consciousness may sometimes occur.
Such careless driving endangers the safety of passengers as well as the safety of the driver.
Recently, a driving assistance system has been developed to determine the state of a driver to secure the safety of occupants as well as the safety of the driver, and sound an alarm or automatically control the driving of a vehicle while driving carelessly.
Such a driving assistance system may determine careless driving (negligence in keeping the eyes forward, drowsy driving, or the like) of the driver by photographing the driver using a camera or analyzing the driving state of the vehicle.
A conventional driving assistance system has immediately stopped a vehicle while the driver is driving carelessly, in a case of emergency (drowsy driving, sudden medical emergency, loss of consciousness, or the like), without considering whether or not a stop position is recognizable by a driver of a rear vehicle.
In other words, the conventional driving assistance system may stop the vehicle in a position which is not recognizable by the driver of the rear vehicle, such as a curve, a position around the entrance or exit of a tunnel, or a position where an uphill road ends and a downhill road starts, thereby causing a collision with the rear vehicle.
The information disclosed in this Background of the Invention section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.